Lazio sink Pescara, Milan suffer third straight defeat

Napoli, three behind Juventus on 48 points, thrash Bologna 7-1, with Hamsik and Mertens both scoring hat-tricks

Marco Parolo scored four times, three wiith his head, as Lazio hammered Serie A bottom side Pescara 6-2 yesterday to maintain their Champions League challenge. Parolo’s rare headed hat-trick was the first in Italy since Joaquin Larrivey achieved the feat for Cagliari in a 6-3 loss against Napoli in March 2012.
All eyes in Italy were firmly fixed on Turin however where champions and current leaders Juventus hostingt resurgent Inter Milan late last night. Second placed Napoli, three behind Juventus on 48 points, thrashed Bologna 7-1 on Saturday in a game where Marek Hamsik and Dries Mertens ran riot with hat-tricks. Struggling AC Milan suffered a fresh blow with a 1-0 home defeat to Sampdoria yesterday, their third straight league defeat, that made a return to the Champions League more distant.
The once mighty Milan sit 10 points behind Roma in the third and last Champions League qualifying spot and are now 14 points behind Juventus, who have two games in hand. Roma can also stretch their lead with a win over Fiorentina tomorrow.
It was Sampdoria’s first win over Milan since 2012 but the Genoa side have now claimed two major scalps in succession having edged Roma 3-2 last week when Luis Muriel — who scored yesterday — also hit the winner.
AC Milan coach Vincenzo Montella had raised hopes this season that the seven-time European champions could battle for a Champions League spot. Milan last graced the competition in 2014 when they lost 5-1 on aggregate to Atletico Madrid in the last 16.
But injuries to midfielder Giacomo Bonaventura, who is out for the season, and defenders Mattia Di Sciglio and Luca Antonelli forced Montella into deploying a largely makeshift back four. Alessio Romagnoli and Juraj Kucka were hauled back into defence from midfield and for the first half Milan’s defence held firm against incursions by Muriel and Andrea Bertolacci.
Former Everton striker Gerard Deulofeu spurned a great chance to break the deadlock after the restart when he fired on to the far post from seven yards out. Milan striker Carlos Bacca had desperate penalty appeals waved away when he tumbled after a nudge by Matias Silvestre in the area.
But when Gabriel Paletta hauled dwn Fabio Quagliarella on the counter, the referee pointed immediately to the spot. Muriel sent goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma the wrong way to give Samp a 70th minute lead. Milan should have levelled in the final minutes but late substitute Gianluca Lapadula fired straght at Emiliano Viviano after being sent clear.
On Saturday, Slovakian international Hamsik and Belgian star Martens both hit hat-tricks as Napoli routed Bologna. Napoli have now hit 55 goals in 23 league games this season although Maurizio Sarri’s men are still outsiders to pip Juve for the title with the defending champions having two games in hand. Hamsik’s goals included a fine diving header and a sublime long-distance drive as he took his Napoli career total to 108 goals, passing Attila Sallustro, a star of the 1930s. Only Diego Maradona has scored more goals for Napoli than Hamsik.
Hamsik believes victory will be a huge boost for his side who face Real Madrid in the Champions League later this month. “Real Madrid will think we are a strong side and if we play like this, we can fight it out with anyone,” he said. “We are all players who focus on movement and that can hurt opposition defences.”
Mertens, meanwhile, took his season total to a league leading 16 goals with 12 of those coming in the last eight matches. He has scored a remarkable three hat-tricks this term.
Napoli’s other goal on Saturday came from Lorenzo Insigne who hit the target from the penalty spot.
“We have scored many goals, yes, but in the last 12 games it’s 10 wins and two draws. This is why we have to focus only on what we do and ignore the other results,” Sarri said. “After a game like this I feel a little angry, as we created perhaps fewer scoring opportunities tonight than against Palermo, but then we scored one and tonight seven.”
The only drawback for Napoli was a red card for Jose Callejon while Bologna’s Adam Masina was also dismissed. Bologna coach Roberto Donadoni said he knew it would not be his night when his team were 2-0 down within six minutes at the Stadio Dall’Ara.
His mood did not improve when Mattia Destro had a penalty saved. “Our evening started badly and it was all downhill from there,” Donadoni said.

Results
Atalanta 2 (Gomez 4, 17) Cagliari 0; Empoli 1 (Pucciarelli 45+2) Torino 1 (Belotti 11); Pescara 2 (Benali 29, Brugman 41) Lazio 6 (Parolo 10, 14, 49, 77, Keita 57, Immobile 69); Chievo 0 Udinese 0; Genoa 0 Sassuolo 1 (Pellegrini 26); AC Milan 0 Sampdoria 1 (Muriel 70-pen)
Played Saturday: Bologna 1 (Torosidis 36) Napoli 7 (Hamsik 4, 70, 74, Insigne 6, Mertens 33, 43, 90)